Who would have guessed so much work goes into building a home! But not to worry, you’ve covered the ‘heavy stuff’. Now all that’s left for you to do is do some rough work inside your home (plumbing, flooring, and wiring) not that hard to do, we’ll guide you through it. So far, so good! You’re doing really well:).
SEO, Social Media, PR and Marketing would be some of the things that take place from the inside of your website but not on the front end of it, off-page rather. Your off-page activities have an impact on your link building which search engines famously rank for. These links can be created when you use social media to connect with other people .i.e. in your workplace, friends etc. As a result, social media has become known as a ‘sub-division’ or a very important element in link building.
We mentioned to you in previous chapters that today’s consumer is a ‘digital’ one and they do everything online. And we also pointed out how it is important it is to not only follow your customers wherever they go but to keep abreast with current online trends. The way in which businesses are going about their PR and Marketing is changing because of their customers’ engagement online.
Therefore it is highly crucial for you as a business owner to look at how to integrate your PR, Social Media and SEO and make them work ‘hand-in-hand’.
We’ll be looking at what influence PR and Social Media have on SEO and how everything fits together to work for your business’s well-being.
“The perfect SEO union”.
What role does Social Media play in SEO?
A great way to explain it would be: There’s a chain reaction between Content Marketing, Social media and Link building. What happens in the ‘perfect SEO cycle’ is; your website engages in great valuable, relevant content for your target audience. Your blog post, website article or the webpage gets shared on a social media platform .i.e. Facebook, Twitter. Next thing you know there’s traffic to your website, your website gets online authority, your business is being talked about on social media platforms, good links are being built, search engines are totally joyful and ranking your site well, perfect!
That in a nutshell what social media does for your SEO.
But that’s not all, with regard to Public Relations, social media interaction has provided a platform for PR practitioners and Marketers to engage in ‘conversations’ with their customers online. In fact, customers are no longer looking at online sales pitches from brands but want to engage with companies on a ‘human level’ and that is why today’s company strives for more of an ‘online persona’ more than anything.
But guess what! While these conversations are taking place between businesses and their customers, good links are being built (SEO), they are referred to your website and looking at Public Relations and Marketing, and this too is great for your online Reputation Management.
Let’s briefly highlight some of the ways Social Media can help your SEO strategy.
– Social Media can create a buzz which will direct traffic to your website.
– Social Media popularity is also an important ranking factor with search engines, which done correctly can provide good ranking for your website.
– It will also increase your website’s authority.
– It also improves your relationship with customers.
– Backlinks are created through social media.
So what about Public Relations, how has SEO influenced PR?
As we pointed out earlier, PR is not just about changing and influencing people’s perceptions of your company anymore but engaging in a ‘conversation’ that’s where your social media function fits in. Some companies are still adapting to this concept but those who are already engaging in it are winning big time! Another thing that has changed in PR is the fact that content is key online nowadays, so throwing an unedited, irrelevant, unconstructive press release online and hoping someone will read it does not go well with search engines.
The type of content you produce for your audience determines your validity and credibility. SEO has changed PR in a sense that, every written piece counts online. It can either bring traffic to your site or not, with Google being strict with content .i.e. Google Panda Websites do not have much of a choice but to create productive relevant content.
Also by covering traditional PR activities such as events, interviews with reputable figures, conferences, social responsibility initiatives, contests. Posting them on your website will not only get you traffic to your website and a social media buzz, but your SEO strategy will be successful in the number and type of links you’ll be receiving when engaging in these PR functions.
We’ve taken you through Social media, Public Relations and how they link into your SEO. Now we going to take a look at Google plus & Google Author and see how they can help your website rank with search engines…
What is Google Plus and what can it do for your website?
Google Plus is a social networking platform which is owned by Google. Google plus has ranking as the second highest networking social site after Facebook. Its features include; Gmail which is a mailing site, +1 button is Google’s ‘like’ button and You Tube comments which are attached to your Google + account discussing You Tube videos.
Google + for successful SEO.
-Google Plus has over 350 million users, that’s a clear indication of the endless engagement opportunities on this social networking site. Let alone backlink opportunities!
– The Google +1 acts as a ‘like’ function and therefore Google will rank your website’s popularity according to the number of likes it receives. Google treats your Google Plus account just like any other website.
– It’s easy to promote and share events on Google Plus.
– The Google Places feature helps your customers find you easier when doing local searches.
– Google communities allows you to share ideas with like-minded individuals or companies, a great networking tool.
– You can have Google + as a social book mark which is likely to get you a number of links.
There are so many features on Google + that will benefit your website’s ranking. Google Author is also an important ranking factor, we’ll discuss with you shortly how it links to your Google + profile.
Google Authorship.
Google Authorship is linked to your Google + profile and what happens is every time you post something on a website, blog or any other piece of content, Google will rank you according to your Google Authorship account, the fact that you are recognised as a Google Author. Provided thought that you post content using your Google + account.
Google with rank your Google Author identity using the following factors:
– The number of +1’s your post on Google plus receives.
– Your backlink quality.
– The type of comments you receive on your posts (negative or good).
– Originality and uniqueness of your content.
– Google will also rank you according to your presence on other social media sites .i.e. Twitter
– The page ranking of the website where you have your content.
– If you are mentioned in reputable websites.
There are many social media networks that you can choose to join in order to improve your SEO rankings but we’ll be taking a look at the more well-known ones that websites and search engines target. The great thing about social media networks is some of them allow you to ‘sign-up’ using another social media website profile .i.e. Pinterest sign-up with Facebook profile. Which shows that they’re linked and they have a ‘post on’ Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn etc… option. It’s really easy and fun to get links socially, you just have to do it right.
• Pinterest – Pinterest is a social media tool that lets you collect and organize ‘your favourite things’ using images. Works alongside Facebook so there’s a chance to engage with your customers using your Pinterest account.
• Facebook – Facebook is the world’s largest social media network with over 1 billion users! It allows people to share images, videos, conversations, meet new people and the ones you already know! It’s quite user friendly as well.
• You Tube is a video –socializing network which provides users and companies the opportunity to share interesting videos.
• Google + – is also a social networking website which provides users to engage in different social communities, share photos and videos, engage with like-minded individuals, follow industry leaders etc… It’s the second largest social media network.
• Twitter – Twitter is an online social networking site. It’s basically a micro-blogging social media tool that allows you to ‘tweet’ send a message in no more than 140 characters.
• LinkedIn – LinkedIn is a professional networking site that connects people all over the world. People in various industries share ideas, job listings, and skills. There are endless opportunities to connect with influential figures as well.
• Tumblr – Tumblr is a micro-blogging social networking website that enables users to post multimedia and related content in the form of a ‘mini – blog’.
We’ve covered the relationship between PR, Social Media and SEO. Looked at Google + and Authorship as well as the different social media websites.
Just remember this…
The communication landscape and how businesses communicate with their customers is changing and therefore it is important for you to be aware of the fact that today’s consumer will get most guidance and seek opinions online. And not just anywhere online but on social media networks where their friends, family, acquaintances are. They seek for close ones opinions on everything from buying decisions to personal ones, as you can see it’s important to ‘join the online conversation’ through social media and let your customers ‘know’ you are. That you are not engaging with them online to make a sale, but genuinely want to know the people who buy your products.
Make use of your Google + and Google Authority accounts. Not only will they provide you with good links but will also provide authority for your website. SEO changes drastically all the time, and with that your Marketing and PR initiatives (your communication channels) have to accommodate your SEO strategy and everything should just link together.
